


Bloody Knuckles

by kristsune



Series: Waffles and Withdrawal au [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Asexual Ben Hargreeves, Bisexual Diego Hargreeves, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pansexual Klaus Hargreeves, ben loves being a snarky bystander, both physical and emotional, finally moving past preslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 18:48:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18900526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kristsune/pseuds/kristsune
Summary: Diego comes back with bruised and bloody knuckles, Klaus just wants to help make him feel better, and takes an extra step they both have wanted for a while.





	Bloody Knuckles

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly just wanted to write Klaus cleaning Diego's hands. Klaus naturally ran away with it. He decided to make the first move all on his own. So you can thank him for that.  
> Wasn't sure on the tags, if anyone needs anything else, just let me know.  
> The previous parts aren't 100% necessary, but it will probably make more sense, and I sure would appreciate it <3  
> Huge shout out to [Jesse](https://thebisexualmandalorian.tumblr.com/) who helped me out with this <3

Klaus looked up as the door opened. Diego stormed in with a scowl on his face. Klaus couldn’t help his startled jump at the door slamming shut even though he watched it happen. Loud noises just  _ did _ that to him, it had for a long time. 

“Hey Diego, what’s wrong?” Concern automatically at the forefront.

Diego’s head snapped around to face Klaus, like he hadn’t even realized that he was there. Klaus watched a series of expressions flit across his face, first; realization that he slammed the door with Klaus there, guilt for startling him, confusion as to why Klaus was there, then back to default; anger. Naturally he ignored all of those emotions and just moved on. 

“It’s nothing.” He switched to concerned when he added, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you still be at work?” Part of Klaus staying with Diego was that he had to at least help a little with supporting the two of them. Klaus managed to talk one of the local thrift stores into letting him work there a couple days a week. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to help buy food. Which Diego never had enough of, even for himself. Klaus shuddered, one could not subsist on raw eggs alone. Added bonus, it was an odd enough store that no one really minded when acted strange whenever the ghosts showed up. And they always did.

Klaus shrugged a shoulder, “Closed early. Power outage. Kicked all the customers out and they let us leave too.”

Diego nodded, satisfied that Klaus was okay. His eyes quickly unfocused again, going back to whatever was poking him in his soft, tender undersides.

“Get him to talk.” Ben supplied from his usual spot in the corner, while reading yet another book. Where he got those, Klaus would never know. At least they generally kept him entertained.

Klaus grumbled out of the corner of his mouth, “Working on it.” He turned his attention back to Diego, “Hey, seriously what’s going on? You aren’t alone anymore, you can talk to me.” Normally Klaus would be six kinds of annoying, needling him until he gave him the answers he wanted, but this was ...different. Calming Diego down took first priority. He could annoy him later. 

“The bastards got away!” Diego slammed his hand the desk. 

“Hey-hey, easy you don’t want to hurt yourself.” Klaus hurried over to check his hand. It was much worse than a single hit should have been. Then he noticed the other one. They were both bloody and bruised. More than a usual night out on the streets would have warranted.

“Christ Diego, what happened?” 

Diego looked down at his hands as if noticing them for the first time, and with how angry he was, Klaus wouldn’t be surprised if that was true. But rather than calming down he just got angry all over again. Klaus wanted to stop him from hurting himself further so he attempted to intervene, by grasping Diego’s wrist, he knew nothing would happen; Diego would  _ never _ hurt him. 

“It’s fine, they’re fine.” Diego attempted to pull away, but stopped as soon as Klaus tightened his hold on his wrist, not too hard, but enough to let him know he wasn’t going to let him go that easily. 

Sometimes Diego needed a firm hand. “No, they aren’t. They need to be cleaned and bandaged.” 

Diego sighed but went with Klaus when he pulled him aside to sit down, “I always forget you’re stronger than you look.”

“What can I say, I’m a wiry bastard.” Klaus smirked at Diego as he went to grab alcohol, a large bowl with warm water, and a couple clean cloths and bandages. 

Diego surprised Klaus, by not only still being seated where he left him, but he had even pulled up his sleeves. He reached for the cloth, but Klaus waved him off. 

“Let me, please?” Klaus felt so  _ useless _ most of the time. He always had. His powers had been mostly worthless (Ben being the sole exception to that rule.) It was one of the biggest reasons why he had always tried to numb himself from them. Worthless  _ and _ horror inducing, not really the best combination. But this? This was something he could do. He could  _ help _ , and if he did it  _ right _ , he’d do more than just clean and bandage Diego’s hands. 

Diego nodded and held out his left hand first. Klaus held it gently in one hand and used one of the cloths to carefully drip water over his hand, soft sounds filling the room. Klaus waited until he had done that a few times before asking again, “Diego, what happened?”

He took a deep breath through his nose, trying to stay calm. Klaus knew that him cleaning his hands was likely the only thing keeping him that way. 

“You know that gang I’ve been after lately? Well I found the boss, Max Woods, with minimal security,” Klaus wondered what Diego actually considered ‘minimal’. In Klaus’s professional opinion? It probably wasn’t. “And I  _ had _ him. I could have brought him to justice for all the damage and death he had caused.” Diego managed to hold the hand Klaus was cleaning still, but his other clenched tightly where it was resting on his knee. “But then the cops raided the place and I fucking l-lost him in the confusion.”

Klaus took that moment to pour a little more alcohol than strictly necessary onto Diego’s knuckles. It had the desired effect; Diego refocused and was pulled back to the present, hissing at the sting in his hand. “How many of his lackeys got arrested because of you?”

“ _ Ohh _ , good call.” Ben praised, actually looking up from his reading.

Klaus aimed a subtle wink Ben’s way.

He brought his focus back to Diego, and, honestly, he would never tire of Diego’s wrinkled forehead of bewilderment, “What?”

Klaus didn’t stop his ministrations, drying and wrapping his knuckles in gauze, “Well, I’m assuming that ‘minimal’” (Diego  _ had _ to have heard those air quotes, he certainly put enough emphasis on them) “security you dispatched was still on the ground when the cops came, they must have been arrested.”

“Well, yeah, they were.” He put down his left hand after Klaus had finished, and brought up his right without being prompted.

Klaus was just as gentle with Diego’s right hand as he had been his left, “All very bad people?”

Diego and Ben both huffed a laugh at the same time, to Klaus’ eternal delight. He ducked his head to hide his smile while Diego continued, “Yeah, all have criminal records, and will probably go to jail.”

Klaus rinsed Diego’s knuckles again before starting to dry them off, “See? You got all those dangerous people off the street, making it a that much safer for the rest of us.”

Diego was almost there (clenched jaw was a dead giveaway) his anger was still simmering, but it was no longer at a boil, “But Max got  _ away _ . He’s just gonna find more thugs and start over again.”

Klaus was taking a calculated risk, but it felt  _ right _ , he could only hope Diego would take it well. He shifted his hands from cleaning mode to actually holding Diego’s hand in his own. “You found him once, I’m sure you can find him again. I believe in you, Diego.”

Diego’s eyes widened, and if that wasn’t the start of a blush at the tips of his ears, Klaus would eat his feathered boa. But the biggest tell that Klaus’ gamble paid off, was that Diego didn’t pull his hand away. 

“Well I’ll be damned.” Klaus could see Ben watching over the top of his book, and he had to work real hard to not make a face at him, because Diego was still staring at him like he never had anyone tell him that they believed in him. Which, now that Klaus thought about it, was probably true. With the possible exception of Mom. But Klaus  _ did _ believe in him,  _ trusted _ him, knew he could and would do anything he promised. And  _ christ _ it was such a relief and comfort to Klaus. To know he had someone that would actually be there for him (no offense to Ben, but not  _ quite _ the same).

Diego’s hand felt heavy in his own, but not a burden, it felt solid, like it  _ meant _ something. It felt  _ electric _ , and it was making Klaus giddy. Diego’s touch had been one of the few things keeping him sane since he got sober. His touch was so warm, and it kept Klaus grounded. Diego seemed to have picked that up that first night, and would find reasons to touch Klaus randomly. But it was usually a hand on the shoulder or the back. They slept side by side (whenever Diego got back from kicking ass, taking names, and saving lives), but Diego hadn’t wrapped around him like he had that first time. But it didn’t matter, the hot line against his body wherever they touched gave Klaus something to focus on. Allowed him to if not get rid of, at least keep the ghosts at bay. It helped him keep track of what was  _ real _ . 

“Better do something soon, or he’s gonna get scared off. You know how shy he is about  _ feelings _ .” Ben had gone back to reading, presumably to not have to watch the results of his suggestion. Ben had no qualms about Klaus’ more than brotherly affection for Diego, but he was always more interested in reading than anything else. Klaus tried to bring up being asexual and/or aromantic up to him, but Ben just claimed being dead meant it didn’t really matter anyway. Klaus disagreed, but he could try and talk about it with him again later. Right now he needed to get out of his own damn head and  _ do _ something already before Diego ran away. 

Klaus leaned in, telegraphing his every move, allowing Diego to move away if he wanted to. But Klaus didn’t think he would. They had been dancing around this for a long time. Klaus was pretty sure they had been dancing around each other for  _ years _ . And if Klaus had read Diego right (which it was really looking like he had) Diego just needed to be shown that it was  _ okay _ , that  _ Klaus _ was okay with all of this.

So Klaus leaned in, hand still holding Diego’s and kissed him. It was soft and dry, and Diego had literally zero reaction for a full ten seconds (which literally felt like an eternity) before realizing that  _ yes _ this was  _ actually _ happening and kissed back. He kept it chaste, but brought his free hand up to cup Klaus’ cheek, rough bandages and tough calluses a stark contrast to the gentle touch. 

They broke the kiss an indeterminate amount of time later, (which also felt like an eternity, but the good kind) and Diego swept his thumb along Klaus’ sharp cheekbone. “This is really o-okay?” 

Klaus smiled as he squeezed his hand, careful of his wounded knuckles, “Yeah. Yeah it is.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to stop by and say hi on [tumblr!](https://kristsune.tumblr.com/)


End file.
